Language interpretation

Interpretation or interpreting is the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication, either simultaneously or consecutively, between users of different languages. Translation studies is the systematic study of the theory, description and application of interpretation and translation.

An interpreter is a person who converts a thought or expression in a source language into an expression with a comparable meaning in a target language either simultaneously in "real time" or consecutively when the speaker pauses after completing one or two sentences.

The interpreter's function is to convey every semantic element as well as tone and register and every intention and feeling of the message that the source-language speaker is directing to target-language recipients (except in summary interpretation, used sometimes in conferences)

For written speeches and lectures, sometimes the reading of pre-translated texts is used.

Comparison to translation

Despite being used in a non-technical sense as interchangeable, interpreting and translation are not synonymous. Interpreting takes a message from a source language and renders that message into a different target language (ex: English into French). In interpreting, the interpreter will take in a complex concept from one language, choose the most appropriate vocabulary in the target language to faithfully render the message in a linguistically, emotionally, tonally, and culturally equivalent message. Translation is the transference of meaning from text to text (written or recorded), with the translator having time and access to resources (dictionaries, glossaries, etc.) to produce an accurate document or verbal artifact. Lesser known is "transliteration," used within sign language interpreting, takes one form of a language and transfer those same words into another form (ex: spoken English into a signed form of English, Signed Exact English, not ASL).